On many instances dog pugmarks are mistaken as leopard tracks and there is pressure exerted on the forest department to capture leopards from the area. This has led to unnecessary anxiety in communities, tensions between communities and forest department, and possibly capture of leopards with no reason. Hence, a poster that would differentiate tracks between dogs and leopards were designed to help in awareness activities.

This paper focuses on the Changpas of Kargyam, with a specific focus on rules, norms, and patterns that govern the construction of social relationships in the family system and the factors that have influenced it. It provides an overview and description of these changes based on fieldwork carried out in 2010-12. Some of the important factors are the increased presence of Indian security forces after the 1962 Indo-China war, tourism, a new motor road, educational facilities and various government welfare schemes. Each of these factors has had an impact on the social structure of Changpa communities

The fruit-tracking hypothesis predicts a positive association between frugivores and fruit abundance over
space and time.We documented hornbill diets and examined the relationship between fruit abundance and abundance
of three hornbill species (Buceros bicornis, Rhyticeros undulatus and Aceros nipalensis) in the Eastern Himalaya from 2009–
2012. The study was carried out at three scales: at the largest scale of the study area (15km2), at the intermediate scale
– eight 3-ha patches within the study area and at the smallest scale of individual fruiting trees.Ninety-one per cent of the
64 foraging sightings of the great hornbill were on figs while more than 50% of the foraging sightings of the wreathed
(83) and rufous-necked hornbills (87) were on non-fig fruits. At the largest scale, wreathed hornbill abundance and
ripe fruit abundance peaked in the non-breeding season. At the intermediate scale, wreathed hornbill abundance was
positively associated with non-fig fruit availability while rufous-necked hornbill abundance was negatively associated
with non-fig fruit availability. At the smallest scale, great and rufous-necked hornbill abundances were correlatedwith
fig and non-fig fruit crop sizes, respectively. The three hornbill species track fruit availability at different scales based
on diet, which has implications for their role in seed dispersal.

A study was carried out to investigate impacts of logging and hunting on
hornbills (which are important seed dispersers), their large-seeded
food plants, arrival of scatter-dispersed seeds of these plants and the
recruitment pattern of these plants across a site experiencing logging
and hunting pressures and a protected area site which did not experience
these anthropogenic pressures. The associated data of the study is
uploaded here.

The loss of tropical forests and associated biodiversity is a global concern. Conservation efforts in tropical countries such as India have mostly focused on state-administered protected areas despite the existence of vast tracts of forest outside these areas. We studied hornbills (Bucerotidae), an ecologically important vertebrate group and a flagship for tropical forest conservation, to assess the importance of forests outside protected areas in Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India. We conducted a state-wide survey to record encounters with hornbills in seven protected areas, six state-managed reserved forests and six community-managed unclassed forests. We estimated the density of hornbills in one protected area, four reserved forests and two unclassed forests in eastern Arunachal Pradesh. The state-wide survey showed that the mean rate of encounter of rufous-necked hornbills Aceros nipalensis was four times higher in protected areas than in reserved forests and 22 times higher in protected areas than in unclassed forests. The mean rate of encounter of wreathed hornbills Rhyticeros undulatus was twice as high in protected areas as in reserved forests and eight times higher in protected areas than in unclassed forests. The densities of rufous-necked hornbill were higher inside protected areas, whereas the densities of great hornbill Buceros bicornis and wreathed hornbill were similar inside and outside protected areas. Key informant surveys revealed possible extirpation of some hornbill species at sites in two protected areas and three unclassed forests. These results highlight a paradoxical situation where individual populations of hornbills are being lost even in some legally protected habitat, whereas they continue to persist over most of the landscape. Better protection within protected areas and creative community- based conservation efforts elsewhere are necessary to maintain hornbill populations in this biodiversity-rich region.

Journal Article

2015

Sharing mechanisms in corporate groups may be
more resilient to natural disasters than kin groups in the Nicobar Islands

It has been suggested that kin groups are better predisposed to cooperatively manage essential natural resources than non-kin groups because of inclusive fitness gains. Whether these long-term genetic pay-offs sufficiently offset the immediate costs of cooperation in periods of scarcity is uncertain. We compared patterns of resource sharing across three island communities in the Nicobar Archipelago affected by the 2004 tsunami. While sharing mechanisms were similar across regions, group composition varied: Central and Southern Nicobar were organised along kinship lines, while Chowra was organised as corporate alliances of unrelated households. We documented post-tsunami losses and conflicts emerging in resource sharing after the event. While kin groups showed considerable breakdown in resource sharing arrangements, corporate communities in Chowra were much more resilient to change. Our results suggest that the more immediate reciprocity of corporate alliances may outweigh the potential benefits of inclusive fitness when faced with conditions of extreme resource scarcity.

On many instances dog pugmarks are mistaken
as leopard tracks and there is pressure exerted on the forest department to
capture leopards from the area. This has led to unnecessary anxiety in
communities, tensions between communities and forest department, and possibly
capture of leopards with no reason. Hence, a poster that would differentiate
tracks between dogs and leopards were designed to help in awareness activities.